6533b836fe1ef96bd12a0a5e
RESEARCH PRODUCT
Molecular structure and multi-body potential of mean force in silica-polystyrene nanocomposites
Andreas KalogirouFlorian Müller-platheToshihiro KawakatsuGianmarco MunaòAntonio De NicolaGiuseppe MilanoGiuseppe MilanoAntonio Pizzirussosubject
Materials scienceGrafting (chemical)Composite numberPhase separationNanoparticleFOS: Physical sciences02 engineering and technologyMolecular dynamicsCondensed Matter - Soft Condensed Matter010402 general chemistry01 natural sciencesNanocompositeschemistry.chemical_compoundMolecular dynamicsGrafting (chemical) Molecular dynamics Nanocomposites Phase separation Plasma interactions SilicaPhysics - Chemical PhysicsMoleculeGeneral Materials SciencePotential of mean forceChemical Physics (physics.chem-ph)NanocompositePlasma interactionsSilicaComputational Physics (physics.comp-ph)021001 nanoscience & nanotechnology0104 chemical scienceschemistryChemical engineeringSoft Condensed Matter (cond-mat.soft)Polystyrene0210 nano-technologyDispersion (chemistry)Physics - Computational Physicsdescription
We perform a systematic application of the hybrid particle-field molecular dynamics technique [Milano et al, J. Chem. Phys. 2009, 130, 214106] to study interfacial properties and potential of mean force (PMF) for separating nanoparticles (NPs) in a melt. Specifically, we consider Silica NPs bare or grafted with Polystyrene chains, aiming to shed light on the interactions among free and grafted chains affecting the dispersion of NPs in the nanocomposite. The proposed hybrid models show good performances in catching the local structure of the chains, and in particular their density profiles, documenting the existence of the "wet-brush-to-dry-brush" transition. By using these models, the PMF between pairs of ungrafted and grafted NPs in Polystyrene matrix are calculated. Moreover, we estimate the three-particle contribution to the total PMF and its role in regulating the phase separation on the nanometer scale. In particular, the multi-particle contribution to the PMF is able to give an explanation of the complex experimental morphologies observed at low grafting densities. More in general, we propose this approach and the models utilized here for a molecular understanding of specific systems and the impact of the chemical nature of the systems on the composite final properties.
| year | journal | country | edition | language |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-01-01 |